One of America's original astronauts - and the only one to have flown Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions - will be giving a special talk and signing books at the science center. Wally Schirra is one of spaceflight's most notable figures, having commanded a Gemini spacecraft during the first space rendezvous mission, and returned America to space following the tragedy of the Apollo 1 fire by commanding the first Apollo space flight. He will be presenting and signing along with another space notable, Ed Buckbee. Buckbee was the founder of Space Camp, and a NASA public affairs officer during the time Schirra made his historic spaceflights. He is also one of very few westerners to have visited China's manned space flight facilities.

The duo will be signing copies of their new book, The Real Space Cowboys. This will be their first booksigning, with the books being delivered the moment they are printed direct from the publishers. The book is a funny and engaging behind-the-scenes look at the conflict, competition and humor that characterized this golden age of spaceflight. The book also comes with a bonus DVD of very rare, humorous movies made by the astronauts at the time.

It should be noted that Captain Schirra normally charges around $50 to sign an autograph. For this booksigning, the book (signed by both authors) will sell for only $10 more than the standard price. As well being a wonderful opportunity to meet a space hero and obtain a great read, this is also a wonderful opportunity to obtain a valuable, affordable space souvenir in person.

Advance orders for signed copies will be taken within a week. To be placed on a waiting list, please E-mail ffrench@rhfleet.org expressing your interest, and we will respond to your message as soon as possible.

ColinBurgess

With past talks and signings that have garnered universal praise from the participants, this promises to be yet another wonderful coup for the Fleet Center, and certainly exemplifies the hard work carried out by Francis and his enthusiastic team. It should be a great afternoon's entertainment for anyone even modestly interested in the early days of manned space flight, and a unique chance to meet one of the true pioneers of that effort. May I suggest that if you have been even casually interested in ordering a book, that you do so right now? I know that Francis in particular puts a lot of hard work and a devotee's enthusiasm into these events, but like any enterprise the orders must come in if these signings and talks are to continue to be viable propositions.

To me, this represents one of the potentially best signings to date - a great book almost literally straight off the presses, two sensational authors signing their book together for the first time, and by special arrangement only a very modest amount stuck on top of the retail price. I'd imagine that any signed copies that remain once the authors have departed will be snapped up very quickly indeed, so it's first in, best dressed, as they say.

Good luck with this venture, Francis - as usual you and Kathy Loder and all at the Fleet Center in San Diego deserve nothing but praise for your sterling efforts. Hope you get a huge crowd on May 7th!

I'd also like to mention that, only two weeks later, Nancy Conrad will be here to sign her new book about her late husband, astronaut Pete Conrad. We are taking orders for that book here:http://www.nexternal.com/rhfleet/?Product=204

and you may wish to order both at once to minimize postage costs.

Thank you so much for your interest! If you have any trouble ordering via the site, please let me know.

As previously stated, Captain Schirra very kindly agreed to sign copies of his book for the Science Center in a way that allowed us to have to charge only $10 more than the cover price. This is still the case for any books we sell via our website, or any signed copies in our store after the May 7th signing event.

However, because of his committment to the Science Center's educational mission (including our in-house Challenger Center) to which all store proceeds go, Captain Schirra has kindly agreed to go even further to make this event a great success. For the books he signs in person, on the day only, the book will sell for the cover price of the book alone. That is, if you attend the event in person at the Science Center, you will be able to have the book signed by both authors for the same price as if you purchased an unsigned copy.

Captain Schirra has even agreed that he will sign up to three copies per person under this special arrangement, which is very generous.

We are very excited and grateful to be able to offer this to our in-person attendees. We regret, however, that we were not able to arrange for the price to be lowered any more for website orders and others not signed in person on the day. We are sure you will agree, however, that $10 for a Wally Schirra signature is still an incredibly good offer.

This is a great opportunity for anyone in the Southern California area. Thanks Francis! I only wish I could be there myself...

Spacepsycho

Robert,

I'm going to be attending the event, would you like me to get a book for you? I'm sure you have a few Wally Schirra's in your collection but I'm happy to get a book signed to you.

Francis, will there be a Q&A at the event after Wally is done signing his books or do I need to fire off a question while he's signing my books?

Thanks, Ray

FFrench

quote:Originally posted by Spacepsycho:Francis, will there be a Q&A at the event after Wally is done signing his books or do I need to fire off a question while he's signing my books?

Thanks, Ray

Hello Ray,

Wally and Ed will be giving a talk before the booksigning begins, and usually there is Q+A time in the talk. If your question does not get answered then, I am sure there would be time when Wally is signing instead.

Thanks,

Francis.

FFrench

The books arrived yesterday from Apogee Books, and I have read most of it.

Now, of course, I'm likely to say that it is a good book because we are hosting the book launch and signing tomorrow. But - being totally honest - this is a GREAT book!

I think one sign of a good author can be when they get out of the way and let the subject tell the story - and this book is full of exclusive interview quotations from 6 of the 7 Mercury astronauts, plus others like Gene Cernan. Ed worked with them all very closely, and there are some fascinating revelations about these guys in here. Al Shepard, in particular, is frequently quoted and is brought to life vividly, as is Deke Slayton. There are some great behind-the-scenes-with-the-seven stories in here that I have never read elsewhere, or have only heard as conversations and never before in print. The fact that we have other astronauts ordering signed copies from us tells you a lot, I think.

for another great reason to get a book, either in person or by mail order!

WAWalsh

Francis, I have visited the webpage today and have been unable to find any link for purchasing an autographed copy. I keep getting the note that the link does nto exist or has been discontinued.

FFrench

Hello,

The advance orders link was pulled late today, as the booksigning is tomorrow, so we have stopped taking advance orders. If we sell our entire stock of books tomorrow, the link will not reappear. If we still have signed stock after the event (and we hope we have ordered enough that we will), the link will be back up early next week - probably on Monday.

Thank you,

Francis.

FFrench

Thanks to all who came today for a wonderful talk by Ed and Wally, a very friendly and chatty booksigning and the bonus of having Steve Hankow here for the turtle club cards.

Gerry Morton, Low Potentate of the Interstellar Association of Turtles (outershell division) was here too and made the day even more fun!

We still do have a limited number of books left, signed by both authors. The link should be back online on Monday.

Thank you,

Francis.

Aztecdoug

Francis,

Thank you, and all, for the great show today in San Diegos beautiful Balboa Park.

The event went well. There was a short from the DVD played during the lecture. It was a Gotcha that was played on Shepard. Very funny indeed! I understand it is just the tip of the iceberg and the DVD should be a real treasure chest of clips.

Wally was in real good spirits today! Of course, I have honestly never seen him in any other mode. It was genuinely nice to chat with both he and Ed briefly.

It is always a treat running into the usual suspects at these events. Erin, Francis, Steve, Randy, Jim... and I made some new friends too. The good company in the line, made the time fly by waiting to get the books signed.

I also took the opportunity to finally pick up a copy of Fallen Astronauts there in the book store. That purchase is long overdue.

But, most importantly, thanks to all involved, I am finally a card carrying Turtle.

I have added the book and the Turtle Card to my website. See Books - Space - Mercury Program.

Francis,I also want to thank you for an incredible opportunity in meeting Wally & Ed today. I look forward to finishing the book. It has alot of behind the scenes info that is hilarious. Especially the Gotcha's. It was also great to meet Steve.Spacekid2Paul Schultz

Of course, I'm a bit biased but this turned out to be a great event. Francis and the folks at the Fleet are top notch which played no small part toward making this a most successful and enjoyable day for both Ed and Wally. Following the signing, I started reading this book and must agree with Francis that it's one to recommend without reservation. To that end, I'd strongly urge that you not delay if ordering your copy from the Fleet as their supply will soon be gone. When the Fleet sells out, Farthest Reaches is currently in good supply, so call or email to obtain a signed copy. I have no doubt that other sellers will also be handling this book as well so the bottom line here is...find a copy and enjoy this one. It's a great read and with a DVD that makes it all the better. Another terrific effort by Apogee.

Lastly, the Turtle Club memberships are available to anyone purchasing a book REGARDLESS of where it's purchased. In addition to receiving your membership card hand signed by Ed and Wally, you'll be eligible for a 5% discount on most Farthest Reaches merchandise through the end of 2005. Follow this link for additional information or to order. http://www.farthestreaches.com/originalpages/books_space.htm

Sounds like you had a busy but marvellous day over there in San Diego, and I can't wait to get my hands on my copy that I ordered through the delightful Kathy Loder at the Fleet store. Judging by the photos you've hoisted in those posts it's a very colourful book, and not just because it's about Wally! Looks to be some great colour photos in there, and it's the sort of book that deserves to sell really well after the slightly disappointing "Schirra's Space." You say the store only has a handful of signed copies left - very glad I got in early, and being signed by both authors is a very nice bonus indeed! Hope the rest are snapped up very quickly. Good luck also with the Nancy Conrad signing in a few days. Any other astronaut signings/talks in the offing at the Fleet Center?

Colin

FFrench

We stopped taking orders almost immediately after the signing, as we believed we were sold out, but we did keep a couple of copies signed by both Schirra and Buckbee just in case we had any discrepencies with Net orders.

I am delighted to say it turns out we do still have TWO books left for sale - first come, first served! Please E-mail Kathy Loder in our store at kloder@rhfleet.org to get them.